A Texas high school quarterback was arrested Friday morning after he allegedly sent disturbing tweets in which he suggested killing teachers.
Oscar Resendez, 18, is facing a felony charge of terroristic threats for tweets such as "Or we could start a riot and kill all the teachers" and "We could call in a bomb threat so we can go home." According to the Alice Echo-News Journal, the Alice High School senior allegedly sent the tweets on Dec. 13 -- one day before the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that claimed the lives of 20 children and six faculty members.
Alice High had already been on lockdown Friday morning as police investigated a separate claim that another student had brought a gun to school. Though they reportedly found no evidence that the other student was in possession of a weapon, police took Resendez into custody after principal Lucinda Munoz told them about the tweets.
Resendez had just been awarded the school's MVP award at an athletic banquet Thursday night. In a statement to the Alice Echo-News Journal, Coyote coach Chris Soza defended his quarterback's character.
"I spoke with Oscar, and I know that he did not mean any harm by tweets he posted," Soza said. "He made a terrible mistake, and I know he feels horrible about this. Oscar is a great kid and I feel awful for him. At the same time, I understand how remarks of this nature must be taken seriously. I know that Oscar will learn from this."
Tensions are understandably high in schools across the country, as officials fear copy-cat attacks in the wake of the Newtown shooting. Alice Police Chief Daniel J. Bueno stressed that such threats will not be tolerated even if they're meant in a joking manner.
"It is a sad day in America, and we are very concerned of any type of threat," Bueno told KIII-TV. "Whether it's jokingly, playing around, using the technology that's now available in any form or fashion to make a threat, we are going to take that very seriously."